Wed, 05 Sep 2001

'Only oncologists should administer chemotherapy'

JAKARTA (JP): A medical oncologist from the University of Indonesia expressed concern here on Tuesday over the widespread use of cancer treatment that relies on medicine or chemical therapy, better known as chemotherapy, by doctors regardless of their background.

A. Harryanto Reksodiputro warned that actually not all physicians were allowed to undertake chemotherapy on cancer patients as only internists specializing in medical oncology were eligible to do so.

Harryanto explained that chemotherapy might affect patients' blood and body organs, thereby worsening their state of health.

"Physicians with other specialisms may treat cancer, but not using chemotherapy. Since the number of medical oncologists is limited in Indonesia, we can do nothing should other physicians use the treatment.

"But in the future, we should uphold the basic rules of medical treatment," he told a media briefing.

Harryanto explained that there were surgical oncologists specializing in cancer surgery, including biopsy and surgical resection of tumor, and radiation oncologists specializing in treating cancer with therapeutic radiation.

He added that in Indonesia there were only 40 medical oncologists, of whom 18 resided in the capital. This number is far below the approximately 1,000 medical oncologists in the U.S., which has a population of 200 million, about the same as Indonesia's.

Chairman of the Indonesian Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Zubairi Djoerban urged patients intending to consult a chemotherapy expert to phone 021-392 6286, the secretariat office of the society at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

Harryanto said that the invention of medication to stimulate the production of leucocytes in cancer patients had created greater hope in treating the illness.

"The aim is no longer to extend patients' lives, but to totally heal the cancer. Based on our experience, even leukemia blood cancer, believed to be incurable, has a greater chance of being cured compared with other cancers, such as breast or prostate cancer," he said.

The Tuesday's media briefing was aimed at publicizing the ninth National Congress of the Indonesian Society of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, to be held in Semarang from Sept. 7 to Sept. 9.

The congress is expected to set out the progress of medication for illnesses related to the blood and blood-producing organs, as well as partial blood transfusion.

Harryanto's colleague, Karmel L. Tambunan, said that blood clotting within blood vessels, or thrombosis, had become the number one killer in Western countries, where 60 percent of deaths were caused by blood flow disorders to the heart or brain.

"While people think that suffering a stroke means they should have their heart or head examined, most of the cases are caused by thrombosis.

"I have also found that about 280 cases of recurring fetal miscarriage over the last three years were caused by thrombosis," he added. (bby)